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Published: December 2nd 2009
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Himalayas by plane
On my way to Srinigar, Kashmir The next morning I boarded an Indian Airlines plane and took off for Srinigar, Kashmir. I enjoyed a beautiful one hour flight over the Himalayan Mountains before meeting one of the houseboat owners, Hanif at the airport. As he loaded up my backpack onto his jeep he informed me of the strike that occured in town due to three girls getting raped and murdered the night before. "The whole city is closed and we dont know how long it will last" he said as we passed a 'Welcome to Paradise' sign on the shoulder of the road. It didnt seem like such an alarming occurence to Hanif as Kashmir has a been known as India's war torn state as Pakistan and India continually fight for rights to the territory. "This happens all the time and it usually passes within a few days" he continued. A nice introduction to the place many people refer to as India's gem due to its beautiful green Himalayan landscapes and pristine lakes.
We passed through the city of Srinigar and after scooting through several narrow meandering alleys we pulled up to his houseboat on Nageen Lake. As I stepped inside the immaculately decorated houseboat with
hand made Kashmiri carpets on the walls, lattice patterned geometric wooden carvings all over the walls displayed just some of the talented craftsmenship of this fascinating region of India. Houseboats in Kashmir date back to British rule after foriegners were denied landgrants- thus Kashmiris had to build the one place they knew they could- on the water. Later, this brilliant idea was revolutionized by converting the small boats into large hotels.
After relaxing a bit on the boat and talking to Shabir, Hanif's brother and meeting Conxita (a Spanish lady who does yearly visits to Shabir and his boat) it was time for a Kashmiri dinner. It was on this boat where I first learned the proper technique for eating with my hands. "Use the three middle fingers of your right hand to scoop the food and the thumb is for pushing food into your mouth." At first it seemed a bit strange and had to be careful not to burn my hands on the hot food. However, after a few days of eating without utensils I actually grew to prefer eating this way as opposed to using a fork and knife or chopsticks. It seemed to bring out
the flavor of the food much more and makes the eating experience much more enjoyable.
Shabir, Conxita and I did quite a bit of chilling out the first few days on the boat. I enjoyed getting to know Conxita- she is a Spanish lady about my mother's age living on the island of Mayorca who has a shop named "Mira, Mira Cachimira" where she sells goods she buys in Kashmir every year for more than 1000% profit. She comes to Kashmir every year and stays on Bashir's boat and buys all the goods she will sell the following year at the store. I followed her around for a few days and learned all about what goes into the fine art of Kashmiri carpets, paper machet items and clothing. It was always funny to see the Kashmiri shop owner's eyes light up as she buys from a select few who offer the best deals and nearly purchases half of their store.
What an exotic experience staying on this lake in Kashmir provided. The region is almost 100% muslim so for me it felt as if I were visiting the Middle East. As we relaxed on the houseboat's patio sipping
Kashmiri tea at night you could hear muslim prayers shooting off on from all angles as a result of the many mosques in town.
After a few days of relaxing and sipping on delicious Kashmiri tea, Hanif came to me with a proposition. Lets go trekking at a town about two hours from here- you can see all these beautiful places and I have no doubt that you will have a very wonderful time! After that you can go by jeep to Ladakh and see some more beautiful places in the Himalayas" he mentioned. "That sounds nice and everything but I really want to go to Ladakh by myself taking a bus. I came to India for adventure and challenge" I said. "You can go by yourself to Ladakh but I would not recommend it because the roads are very dangerous." "Thats okay I will take my chances and thanks for the offer" I told him.
I didnt end up going on a long jeep ride with them but I decided to go on a trek to the small village of Naranag in the Himalayan Mountains for three days. This meant loading up all the supplies we had
to survive- food, clothes, pot and pans, tents, chicken etc and taking horses out to carry them as we traverse the mountainous terrain for a few days. I had to bargain a lot to get the price I wanted but thought it would be worth it in the end. After all, who knows the next time I will return to India.
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